Mumbai, Nov 15: The rupee today ended at the 32-month low of 50.67/68 falling further by 37 paise against the US currency due to persistent dollar demand from banks and importers amid weak equities.
Sustained dollar demand from banks and importers in view of the higher dollar in the New York market mainly affected the rupee value against the American currency, a dealer said.
The dollar extended gains against the euro in the New York market yesterday following reports that sale of five-year Italian government bonds came at the highest cost to the government since 1997.
“Indian equity markets traded weak throughout the day and were down by over one and half per cent which depreciated Rupee. Looking at the strong dollar one can expect Rupee to trade near 51.00 levels,” Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO of Alpari Financial Services (India) said.
The rupee resumed lower at Rs 50.40/41 per dollar on the Interbank Foreign Exchange, as against its previous close of Rs 50.30/31 per dollar. It dropped further to Rs 50.74 per dollar before ending at 50.67/68 per dollar. Previously, it had ended at 50.70/71 on March 31, 2009.
The domestic currency hovered in a range of Rs 50.40 and Rs 50.74 during the day.
The dollar index was up by over 0.3 per cent against a basket of currencies while global crude oil was trading above USD 97 a barrel in European market today.
Abhishek Goenka, CEO, India Forex Advisors said the increasing weakness in the rupee is a big concern.
“The Rupee is close to its lowest levels of two and half years, this weakness will continue further, as on the concern over the global markets and the domestic issued faced by the Economy. The growing inflation and increasing deficit on the other hand the cut in the forecast of the GDP will further affect the rupee,” Goenka said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed well below the 17,000 mark; lost 236.07 points or 1.38 per cent to end at 16,882.67.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar remained firm on sustained paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in April settled up at 115-117 paise from yesterday's close of 104-106 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in October also ended sharply higher at 183-185 paise from 168-170 paise previously.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 50.5645 and for the euro at Rs 68.7875.
The rupee moved down further against the pound sterling to end at Rs 80.38/40 from Rs 80.25/27 yesterday and also declined further against the Japanese yen to Rs 65.83/85 per 100 yen from overnight closing level of Rs 65.39/41.
However, it recovered to close at Rs 68.49/51 per euro from Rs 68.77/79.
